James Cornelius Thomas "Jack" Kotelawala (16 December 1910 – 1992) was a lawyer and

Ceylon Sri Lanka (, ; si, ශ්‍රී ලංකා, Śrī Laṅkā, translit-std=ISO (); ta, இலங்கை, Ilaṅkai, translit-std=ISO ()), formerly known as Ceylon and officially the Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka, is an ...

ese politician.

Early life and education

Kotelawala was born on 16 December 1910, in Hindagoda (Badulla District, Uva), the son of James Kotelawala, and the nephew of Sir

Henry Kotelawala Sir Don Henry Kotelawala was a Ceylonese politician. He was an elected member of the Legislative Council of Ceylon and State Council of Ceylon from the Uva and Badulla for 28 years. Henry was the son of D. C. Kotelawala (1886–?) from Bandaragam ...

. He was educated at

Uva College, Badulla Uva College Badulla (Uva Maha Vidyalaya) is a public school in Uva province, Sri Lanka which was founded in 1867. A national school, controlled by the central government (as opposed to the Provincial Council), it provides primary and secondar ...

and at

Trinity College, Kandy "Look to the End" , mottoes = , founder = John Ireland Jones , established = , type = Independent Private , affiliation = Church of Ceylon, Anglican , grade ...

before studying at the

Ceylon Law College Sri Lanka Law College (abbreviated as SLLC), formerly known as Ceylon Law College, is a law college, and the only legal institution where one can enroll as a attorney-at-law in Sri Lanka. It was established in 1874, under the then Council of Legal ...

and qualified as a

Proctor Proctor (a variant of ''procurator'') is a person who takes charge of, or acts for, another. The title is used in England and some other English-speaking countries in three principal contexts: * In law, a proctor is a historical class of lawye ...

Political career

He was recruited to the Youth League by Terence de Zylva and participated in the

Suriya-Mal Movement The Suriya-Mal Movement was formed in the British colony of Ceylon to sell ''Suriya'' flowers on Poppy Day for the benefit of Sri Lankan ex-servicemen. The movement became anti-imperialist in character, and was also involved in relief work during ...

in Kandy. Kotelawala was a founding member of the

Lanka Sama Samaja Party The Lanka Sama Samaja Party, often abbreviated as LSSP (Literal translation, literally: Lanka Socialist Party, Sinhalese language, Sinhala: ලංකා සම සමාජ පක්ෂය, Tamil language, Tamil: லங்கா சமசமா� ...

in 1935, serving as the joint secretary and as a member of the Executive Committee between 1935 and 1940. He was appointed the party's general secretary between 1940 and 1942. He was jailed in 1942 for three years. Kotelawala served as the president of the Uva Motor Workers’ Union and the vice president of the All-Ceylon Estate Workers Union. He was elected to parliament at the 1st parliamentary election held between 23 August 1947 and 20 September 1947, representing the LSSP, as the second member for the Badulla electorate. The first member,

S. M. Subbaiah Sangaralingam Muniandi Pillai Subbaiah (19 October 1912 – ?) was a Ceylonese politician, trade unionist and Tamil activist. Subbaiah was elected to parliament at the 1st parliamentary election held between 23 August 1947 and 20 Septembe ...

, representing the

Ceylon India Congress Sri Lanka (, ; si, ශ්‍රී ලංකා, Śrī Laṅkā, translit-std=ISO (); ta, இலங்கை, Ilaṅkai, translit-std=ISO ()), formerly known as Ceylon and officially the Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka, is an ...

received 27,121 votes (50% of the total vote) and Kotelawala 16,654 votes (31% of the total vote). The Badulla electoral district was one of five multi-member constituencies, with two members, the others were Ambalangoda-Balapitiya,

Balangoda Balangoda is a large town in Ratnapura District, Sabaragamuwa Province, Sri Lanka, governed by an urban council located away from Colombo and from Ratnapura on Colombo - Batticaloa Highway(A4). It is one of the largest towns of the Sabaragamuw ...

, Colombo Central and

Kadugannawa Kadugannawa is a town in Kandy District in the Central Province, Sri Lanka, Central Province of Sri Lanka, governed by an Urban Council. It is located along the A1 road west of Peradeniya. The town is served by Kadugannawa Railway Station and ha ...

. He successfully retained his seat at the 2nd parliamentary election, held between 24 May 1952 and 30 May 1952, where he secured the position of first member, polling 12,450 votes (31% of the total vote), which was only 403 votes ahead of S. A. Peeris, who was elected as the second member for the Badulla electorate. At the 3rd parliamentary elections, Kotelawala received 20,908 votes (46% of the total vote) over 6,000 votes in front of the

United National Party The United National Party, often abbreviated as UNP ( si, එක්සත් ජාතික පක්ෂය, translit=Eksath Jāthika Pakshaya, ta, ஐக்கிய தேசியக் கட்சி, translit=Aikkiya Tēciyak Kaṭci), ...

candidate, S. A. Peeris, who polled 32.6% of the total vote. Kotelawala lost the seat to the UNP candidate, B. H. Bandara, at the 4th parliamentary election held on 19 March 1960, when the electorate was changed to a single-member constituency. He lost by 276 votes, with Bandara polling 4,775 votes (37% of the total vote) against Kotewala's 4,499 votes (35% of the total vote). He chose not to contest the subsequent

parliamentary election A general election is a political voting election where generally all or most members of a given political body are chosen. These are usually held for a nation, state, or territory's primary legislative body, and are different from by-elections ( ...

held on 20 July 1960. He was expelled from the LSSP in 1969, when he was appointed as the Ambassador to the Soviet Union. He served as the chairman of the Ceylon Transport Board between 1975 and 1977. Kotelawala joined the

Sri Lanka Mahajana Party The Sri Lanka Mahajana Pakshaya (SLMP; Sri Lanka People's Party) is a political party in Sri Lanka, founded in 1984 by Vijaya Kumaranatunga. History 1980s Vijaya Kumaranatunga founded the party in 1984 and led it until his assassination in 198 ...

and served as its president between 1984 and 1992. He was the author of ''Amataka Novana Satahan'' emorable Events which was published in Samasamaja Jayanthi Kalapaya amasamaja Jubilee Issue(1960).

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Kotelawala, J. C. T. 1910 births 1992 deaths Alumni of Ceylon Law College Alumni of Trinity College, Kandy Ambassadors of Sri Lanka to the Soviet Union Lanka Sama Samaja Party politicians Members of the 1st Parliament of Ceylon Members of the 2nd Parliament of Ceylon Members of the 3rd Parliament of Ceylon People from Badulla District Ceylonese proctors Sri Lankan diplomats Sinhalese people Sri Lankan lawyers Sinhalese trade unionists